I remembered summer camp one and a half years ago. It was the time when I had just started to fall in love with Scott.
We'd been in the same class since basically forever, together with Beth and Aidan and when we were 16 during that melancholic summer, our class decided to make us sign up at a camp near our town to spend a memorable time together which we would never forget.
Me and Beth had been more than excited to go there and I remember my fluttering heart when I found out my crush Scott Winslet would participate as well. He was the nice guy that would hold the door open for you, the one whose smile from across the room could light up your day, the one most of the girls in our class had the hots for.
Obviously, the self-concious me from that time had never thought to have a chance with that cute boy I barely knew, but after a few shy smiles we exchanged during camp activities and silent hi's here and there, he did the most unexpected thing on the last day of our two-weeks adventure. We did a final campfire with music and marshmallows to terminate the trip when Scott asked me for a romantic dance. I was sitting on the ground with Beth and we had just put our grilled marshmallows into our mouths when he suddenly came over, scratching his head nervously, and reached out to me to ask me to dance.
I was so embarrassed, excited and happy at the same time so that all I could do was to nod like a maniac, the burning hot marshmallow still in my mouth, not allowing me to speak nor smile in a decent way or without looking like a puffed hamster.
The warmth of the campfire was nothing compared to the temperature of my cheeks when he carefully grabbed my waist to pull me closer to his tall body. I could recall Beth's cheeky giggle when she saw me blushing up to my ears and other gushing noises coming from our class mates who stared at us in awe. I remember feeling a bit awkward being in the spotlight of the crowd for the first time but when I looked at Scott and saw that he was just as embarrassed as me but held onto my hand tightly nevertheless, I didn't care about anything else.
His eyes flickered like the stars above us and his smile made me feel so-
"Ellie?"
Aidan's sudden call made me gasp in surprise.
"I-I'm sorry. My thoughts drifted away for a second," I responded. I completely forgot Aidan had been here too for a moment.
"Not to be rude or anything but that was definetely more than just a second. Do you wanna talk about it...maybe? I can be a good listener sometimes" he asked me with a deep and careful voice.
I guess it was the fact that it was in the middle of the night and that Aidan had not been a complete asshole for a couple of hours already that I didn't think about being careful of what to say to him anymore.
"Well...do you still remember summer camp last year? You were there too, right?"
"Oh lord, how could I ever forget that? Going fishing, doing sports and playing cards with the camp leaders for two long weeks. What a wonderful summer!" he said sarcastically and I had to smile a bit. Imagining Aidan doing these things made me feel kind of sorry for him, it felt like he was just not made for something like that. It was definetely out of his comfort zone and I bet he found the camp activities pretty annoying.
"I already guessed you didn't enjoy it that much. But it was the best summer I ever had actually! I had so much fun with Beth and back then, Scott and me were so in love and it was all thanks to the camp!" I said happily when I thought about the times I didn't have anything to worry about. Well, unlike now.
"Ah yeah, the campfire... I remember," Aidan whispered into the cold air that surrounded us. He looked up into the sky and watched how visible each of his breath was in the dark. We had just got into the beginning of the forest when I felt his mood changing.
"So you saw our dance too? God, it was pretty embarrassing, wasn't it?" I joked to lift his mood but it didn't seem to work.
"Was that what you were thinking about just now?" he asked without answering my question. He didn't look me in the eyes but his facial expression wasn't exactly mad or something. Actually, he seemed rather normal.
However, as I've known him since we were small, I knew he could hide his real thoughts under his facial expressions as much as he wanted to, but his eyes just couldn't lie. And in this moment, I could see sorrow in them.
This time, I ignored it on purpose. He'd always hated it when I called him out on it.
"Yeah, I did. Everything seemed so easy back then, didn't it?"
"Do you mean because that was when we both had already stopped talking to each other?" he said smiling a bit but his voice sounded slightly hurt.
It felt like a punch in the stomach when he pointed that out. I forgot that it was the first summer we didn't spend together... the first summer we ignored us completely.
I felt bad and wanted to assure him that I didn't mean it like that.
"Um, I-"
"Don't worry about it, Smellie-Ellie. This midnight walk is not supposed to be about us and our childhood problems but about you and your friends. They hurt you, right?" he said before I could even comment anything.
Maybe he was right. I wanted to forget what had happened with Scott and Beth instead of bringing up more problems that would irritate me even more.
"Y-yeah... they did. I feel like an idiot for being so naive. I don't want to go into detail about what they did to me, but I don't know how to handle the situation right now! It feels like they were the only people I could trust, the only people I cared for and now that they abandoned me, I feel... so left behind somehow. I feel like I'm completely alone. And I don't know what to do to make me feel better! That is so frustrating..! I guess you, the notorious cold-hearted Aidan Knight probably doesn't understand these feelings but-"
"Oh, I do, Ellie. I do understand them quite well, to be honest," he said, giving me that sad smile again. What was up with him today?
Not knowing what to answer to that, I said:
"Then what do you think I should do now?"
I saw him looking down at the ground grinning before he turned to me.
"Let's see. In my opinion you have two options. First one: You do what is inevitable and confront your friends with what they did. You need closure, you need to have a talk with them about it instead of running away. The longer you wait with that, the bigger your pain will become," he said and I was surprised how mature he became.
"The problem is that I am scared of confronting them. I don't want to lose either of them! And a talk about it would make everything that has happened become so real and... I don't think I could take that," I admitted feeling a bit dizzy all of a sudden.
"Of course it will be horrible. Every confrontation is awful, but sometimes you need to do that to be able to move on, Ellie. I'm not really the one to talk though, I've been avoiding a confrontation for years now but that's not good and you should not do the same. I mean, look at me now and what it made of me, I'm miserable! I walk around with a strange girl in the middle of a Friday night instead of going partying," he said laughing and I had to laugh, too.
I didn't know what kind of confrontation he was avoiding and I didn't dare to ask him about it. But strangely, his smile cheered me up and I was glad he was not as gloomy as before anymore.
As the mood got better, I started to relax a bit which I rarely did around him. Around anyone at the moment to be precise. The wall that I built around me to protect myself became something like a habit. Maybe that's why it was especially weird that I let go of it next to Aidan, of all people. I was too tired to think further about it and just enjoyed the comfortable silence of the walk.
The moon shone brightly that night and the autumn leaves of the forest began to follow our way as a light breeze crossed us.
We were almost at the end of the forest path, it was two a.m. in the morning and time to head back. I grinned at Aidan when I saw him yawning like a little boy and secretly thanked him for coming along with me. Who would have thought it turned out to be a good idea to ask him for a favor?
Naturally, I kept those thoughts to myself to prevent him from commenting stupid things and instead asked:
"So what does the overly smart and narcissistic Aidan Knight recommend me to do if I also want to avoid the confrontation like him? What is your second option that could possibly turn me into the same miserable person as the one right in front of me?"
He shook his head as a playful reaction to my cheeky teasing but didn't look annoyed by what I had said. Again, he grinned as he looked up into the nightsky and slightly bit his lower lip while crossing his arms. It was a bad habit of him when he had to reflect on something.
Aidan only had one dimple, on the right side of his cheek. This dimple was visible now that he looked at me and smirked. It was the same smirk he always wore in the past and that I haven't seen for a long, long time.
"The second option is: Go on with what you do now and pretend to be fine although you aren't. Pretend to be all right to protect your pride and to push away the problem. You may lose the ones you love then though but at least that's what I have been doing," he said amused.
We almost reached my house again, I already thought of how to tiptoe back into my room so my mom wouldn't notice me sneeking outside.
"And that's all? Pfft, that shouldn't be a problem for Ellie Hepburn," I said sarcastically, searching my keys in my pockets.
"Nah, there is one thing missing," he said to me.
I was surprised and asked:
"What?"
Aidan showed me all of his perfectly white teeth in a wide grin. He put one of his hands in his pocket, with the other hand he pointed to himself.
I was prepared for the worst but I didn't expect the following words.
"Organising the up-coming school festival with no one else but me. The overly smart narcissistic Aidan Knight. Oh, and you forgot good-looking."
A/N: Hello everyone! I know it's been years since I uploaded this story but I hope some of you are stil interested in a continuation! I am very thankful for everyone that is still reading this, so thank you! It would be amazing if you left a comment in case you want me to write more so I know! Have a great day everyone!